Neverending Maze
by storygossiper
Summary: This is just the Beginning.... chapter 6 up! Please RnR.
1. Chapter 1

My very first fanfiction! It takes place in the summer before Monica and Rachel enter college. Enjoy! Please read and review!

Disclaimer: I don't own friends/characters/actor.

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**Never-ending Maze**

**Chapter ****1**

**Unfortunate Events**

"...are you OK?" A concerned teen crouched down on hands and knees, observing the scene in front of her. Obvious to the fact that the ground was'nt as hygienic as she considered it to be after reading: 'The Importance and Judgement of Sanitation.' Nearly seven months have passed since Christmas, she remembered it like it was yesterday.

_**FLASHBACK**_

_"Please, please, please can I go first?!" __pleaded a very whiny teenage girl, __very eager to open the __7x4 package she held in front of her. Christmas was her favourite time of year and she knew the traditional Geller family Holiday very well. She made a metal note to secretly give her eggnog to Old Yeller. Surprisingly eggnog was the only thing she hated consuming, and she thought that if he__r family knew, the results would be endless __tantalizin__g and cruel__ jokes__. "Wow! Monica doesn't like eggnog, but she likes melted cheese on ham! That's a shocker!" She can hear Ross exclaim. No, she would deny her conscience. Refuse to let her family find out about her mom's general cooking. But that all changed three years ago, when her compulsive selfishness trait got the better of her. __She never meant to utter __that she hated her cooking. Even though she knew perfectly well that her cooking__ was__ better than her mothers__. And Judy never meant to utter four horrible words- "You were a mistake!"- That left __the room deathly__ quiet. For a split second everyone forgot how to breathe, Jack looked ready to run after his daughter and Judy stayed rooted to the spot, not knowing what to do. But Monica eventually got over it. She didn't want to think about the past when the present opened up to her. Revealing __a__ Christmas tree, a teenage boy sitting patiently __near it, and two parents pondering over the question. Normally the eldest would open their presents first and so on in descending order. _

_Jack couldn't help but chuckle at his perky daughter. When it comes to Christmas, he thought, she's gets so hyped up.__ Monica's impatience was growing; her fingers were already digging into the package like tiny drills. __"Alright my little Harmon__ica! But just this__ year..."__ Soon enough pieces of wrapper's were f__lying__ left and right, clawing and snipping it so fast as if it was a competition. Finally after the fl__oor was partly littered, Monica beamed at her present. __She wasn't really fond of reading anything except if it's related to cooking and cleaning. __It was a book entitled 'The Importance and Judgement of Sanitation.' She opened the book and on the left side read "Merry Christmas my little Harmonica!" From Jack. She rolled her eyes saying "Dad, I hate to break it to you but I am not your little harmonica anymore__." _

_Indeed it was true, she had already entered__ Grade 12__ and all Jack could do was nod at reality. She couldn't wait till College, the thought of it trilled her__ and she had to make sure her best friend would be there too._

_**END OF FLASHBACK**_

Ross E. Geller rolled down the hill at high speed, smiling to himself, knowing full well that his opponent was still behind him. He reached the bottom of the hill and skidded to a halt. "Ha! Chandler I won! And you thought I was..." BEEP! Came a sound from behind. He turned around in time to see an out-of-control-car heading in his direction...

Ross jumped out of the way just in time. His heart racing when he thought his life was over. Then he looked back up the hill wondering where Chandler was. Oh No Chandler! What if that crazy car hit him?! He skated back up the hill as fast as could, praying that his best friend was alright. Finally he reached the top of the hill all sweaty and fighting for breath. But no relieve came to him as he saw what looked like his best friend, lying motionless on the ground...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**The Past**

**FLASHBACK**

_Yelling, yelling, and more yelling.__ Six year old Chandler M. Bing sat at the bottom of the stairs, his hands cupped to his ears, tears sliding down his mudding face. He had been playing football with some pals when his father stormed out of the house, red in the face, roughly grabbed him by the arm and dragged him back into the house. Chandler's dad looked extremely angry. "DID YOU TELL HER?!" he spat, glaring at his only son. "Tell her what?" he asked, wiping his eyes. But he couldn't stop the stinging; he had never seen his father this angry before. "DON'T YOU DARE LIE TO ME__ YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS ABOUT IT!" Charles may__ as__ well have been yelling at a dead animal. "But I.__.I...I..." chandler stammered, he had never been this clueless in his life. But the look his father gave him told him he wasn't pleased. "THERE'S NO OTHER WAY NORA FOUND OUT!" He screamed, slapping him harshly across the face, causing chandler to stagger backwards. Just then Nora came running into the hall, looking wildly around for the source of commotion. "Charles! What the Hell are you doing here?!" she exclaimed, followed by a gasp as she saw her son. "GET OUT! __BEFORE I DECIDE TO CALL THE POLICE!!"__ Making a grab for the phone, she glared as Charles straightened up, gave his son a brief look, before heading out the door. Not knowing when the last time he will see him._

_Nora walked over to her son, embracing him "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "It's not your fault, __don't__ blame yourself for anything." She added, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Mommy..." He hesitated "What did I do wrong?" he asked, curious to his dad's sudden outburst at the same time hurt physically and mentally. "Nothing" she answered. "It was him from the beginning, his loss; let's just forget about it ok?" He nodded as a wave of exhaustion hit him. Nora carried a sleeping chandler back into his bed, hoping by morning __that__this was all forgotten__. Charles indeed had accused his son of telling Nora he was sleeping with the Pool Boy, when in fact she witnessed it herself. Last night they had the hugest fight known to man, it was fortunate that Chandler's ears didn't erupt under all the chaos. He was six and couldn't figure out the reason. Sleeping with the Pool Boy? Did that mean not sleeping with mom? Betrayal, reject, what did all __those mean? One thing he was sure of as he drifted off to sleep on his mom's lap, that he will be a real man and not turn out like his father. He vowed never to cry again._

**END OF FLASHBACK**

Monica Geller snapped back to reality, where an injured body lay nearby. The boy was not much older than her, with sandy brown hair and a thin figure.

"Are you ok?" She asked again fearing the worst when she felt a lump on the back of his head. She tried to raise his head and bring him back to conscious while ignoring her nerves. _He needs help _she concluded as the figure didn't budge.

"Chandler!" Monica looked up to see her brother roller-blading her way. "Chandler...his he..?"

Ross looked aghast, horror-stricken across his face at the site of his best friend. He kneeled down but could see no blood or any sign of fatal injury. "You know him?" Monica asked.

"Yeah. That's Chandler, my college roommate, I see you already met him."

The sound of moaning startled Ross and Monica. Even more, As Chandler seemed to come back to consciousness. His eyes slowly opened as they stared down at him. "Chandler, Pal, are you alright?" Ross asked, concern etching on his face.

"Yeah just fine." He replied, "Besides the agonizing pain in my head, I'm just dandy." Ross could hint a bit of sarcasm in his tone. "Maybe we should take him inside" Monica suggested, and together they helped him into their house. They filled their parents in about the accident once they settled him onto the couch. Although not too sure what happened themselves, they decided to ask. Monica got him water while Ross asked him what happened.

"Well... I'm not so sure... All I know right now is that I'm dizzy, have a major headache, and ringing in my ears."

Monica and Ross simply stared at each other, fearing the worst.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to everyone for the reviews! It means a lot, here's the next installment...little short but its getting somewhere :)

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**New Beginnings**

"Thanks for the painkillers man, I'm good as new." Chandler told his best friend.

"Yeah, well you still have that lump on the back of your head, are you sure you don't have a concussion?" Ross asked him, sitting on the small couch that accompanied Monica's room.

Chandler shook his head, "I'm fine" he assured him, looking around, taking in what he saw. A desk sat by the corner, opposite the door, a pile of paper the size of Mount Everest laid there neatly, staked on top. A small white couch sat against the wall near the door, currently occupied by Ross. Everything looked neat and organized, nothing was unordinary. There was a large window above her bed which looked 'normal' compared to the surrounding posters that occupied the remaining wall. Posters of- Chandler had to restrain himself from laughing- Kermit the famous puppet.

"Hey, I thought I would bring you some soup-"

Monica walked in holding a mug wafting with the smell of chicken noodle soup. She blushed immediately when she saw Chandler staring at her posters.

"-because you didn't eat supper with us." She finished, shyly.

"Um, thanks" smiling, he carefully took the mug.

"Mon makes the best soup." replied Ross.

"I'm sorry Mon was it? I'm Chandler by the way." He said setting the mug down carefully before it could burn away at his fingers.

Monica laughed. "I'm Monica; you can call me Mon if you want."

"Well ok now that we established the getting to know-each-other's-names part, I'm heading off to take my shower, see you in the morning dude." Ross said doing his weird hand-shake thing with Chandler before leaving.

"Um, so do you like it?" Monica asked, pointing to the soup.

"It's a little hot, but delicious." Chandler commented, smiling.

She smiled back waiting for him to finish his soup. This was her room after all.

"Well, um, thanks for the soup, Ill see you in the morning." He said smiling all the way out, taking the mug with him.

_What the hell was that? Since when did I smile like a freak? _Chandler thought. He had grinned like a loser whose been asked out for the first time! He sighed, pushing that memory to the back of his head; he made his way to the kitchen and placed the mug in the sink. He turned around, looking through the semi-darkness. Everyone was now asleep. He went to the guest room, where he was told he could sleep there, changed into his boxers and shirt before hopping into bed.

He flicked off the bed-side table lamp. The darkness completely engulfing his room, making it impossible to see.

The house was now completely dark.

Across the hall, red light beamed the time: 12:00 am. Monica didn't feel tired, but fell asleep anyway.

What was the last thing on Chandler's mind before he drifted off to sleep? He didn't know.

To him, nothing was ever planned.

Tomorrow was another day.

Another adventure waiting to happen.


	4. Chapter 4

Phew! Finally! My next update. It's been crazy and hectic what with exams coming up, I had to finish and post this chapter. All I ask is for reviews! Otherwise it may not be worth continuing. Like even a one word review is fine! And enjoy this chap as another won't come until exams are over. And thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous ones!

**The Trip**

One sleepless night.

One thought.

No, not thought.

Dream.

A Dream that shifted into a nightmare.

One major headache. One that could thwart someone out of sleep. Chandler climbed out of bed, everything looked blurred and dim, his mind hazy from lack of sleep and a headache that seemed to grow, time providing nourishment. He rubbed his eyes and slowly made his way out of the room. Once in the kitchen he jumped not expecting to see Monica there. The oven gave off a faint glow, which seemed brighter than its surroundings, it read: 4:26 am.

"What are you doing up?" Chandler asked.

"Nothing, ah just-" She had not expected, of all people, Chandler to walk in on her eating something brown and cake-like. Trying to hide her leftover dessert she was eating was to no success. It was too obvious, the chocolate stain, the fact that he was it... well you get the picture. Making up an excuse by this time would have been useless. She frowned at her pathetic answer. 'Nothing' seemed so clichéd. It had taken her almost a year to lose enough weight so she wouldn't be considered fat, but now, she found her feet wandering to the refrigerator, in the middle of the night, hunger grumbling in her stomach.

She quickly stowed it away and turned around to find Chandler clutching his head.

"You ok?" she asked (for the third time that day, she realized).

He groaned, the pain in his head throbbing and thumbing against his temples, black blotches appeared in front of his eyes, obscuring his vision. It passed after a few seconds.

"Do you have Tylenol or something?" he needed a good night sleep.

"Yeah, headache?" she enquired, fetching him the pills.

"It's keeping me from sleep." he said, sitting down by the kitchen table. Quickly swallowing the pill, he got up to leave.

"Hey, you never told us exactly what happened the other day."

"It's nothing really" he mumbled. It was too embarrassing to let a girl, he barely knew, know the full details. And what was the big deal? Not much had happened. So some guy from college almost ran over him causing him to slip and whack his head against a pole simply because he owed the guy money.

"Oh come on, I still want to know! You've got like another head growing out of the one you already have. What happened?" She had meant it metaphorically, eager to know the full truth and nothing but.

"I fell ok? What more do you want to know?"

"The truth" answering his question, matter-of-factly. "You couldn't just have tripped or something. It doesn't add up."

"If you tell me I'll show you a secret your best friend is keeping from you." She added, hoping to make a deal.

This intrigued Chandler very much. He thought he and Ross were best friends, you know, tell each other everything.

"Ok, Deal but you show me the secret first."

Two minutes later, after fetching an old tape, Monica popped it into the VCR and sat down beside Chandler.

Click. Rewind. Stop. Play.

_"I am __Dee;__ I drink tea__-"__sang a very che__ery small boy, he looked about__ six__ years old, sitting near a small table in the backward. Teacups and plates occupied the table and dolls occupied the remaining chairs around the table. He was holding a teacup in __an __etiquette__ fashion while __singing;__ wearing what looked like a pink bubble gum dress, his mother's __jewellery,__ and white gloves. Fat rounded white pearls clipped to his ears._

_The spill of water interrupted his singing, replacing it with an annoyed moan followed by a fleeing Ross._

_"Ross!"_

_Younger Monica came running into the scene, holding paper towel and began wiping the table._

Stop.

It was the end of the tape.

Laughter and shrills of laughter (Monica) and all sorts filled the room. Chandler knew he would soon mock Ross about it, possibly to the point where they wouldn't be friends anymore.

"Ross...a girl!"

"I Know!"

After a while their laughter subsided, both realizing it was 5 o'clock in the morning.

"I can't wait to mock Ross about this; it's probably why he never told me, he knows me too well."

"I mocked him plenty of times before." Monica told him, completely forgetting about their deal.

They crept back upstairs, the floorboards beneath their feet making loud creaky noises no matter how slow or carefully they moved. How odd was it for Monica to forget something as simple as a deal? Very. But it seemed, like her mind was somewhere else, somewhere not so familiar...

Whispering goodnight to each other, they went their separate ways.

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It was in the middle of July in NYC. The hottest time of year, In fact pedestrians had second thoughts about their visions. Unmistakably seeing heat waves and fried eggs up in nests had to be a sure sign of madness.

Everyone ate breakfast in silence.

Ross and Chandler went to the living room. Thank God for air conditioning.

Monica went to do dishes.

And parents went to work.

Ross turned to Chandler with a gleeful look on his face.

"Guess what? I-"he started.

"Someone asked you out?"

"No! I'm dating Carol remember? Anyway I... I was in our dorm when Danny came in, told me we were invited to his beach party!" he exclaimed, not bothering to hold the excitement in his voice any longer.

"Wow! Cool... then you could dress up in your pretty pink dress!" Chandler smirked.

Ross frowned at his statement.

"Oh but wait, it's a _beach_ party not a _tea_ party."

Ross gasped, finally understanding Chandler's joke.

"Monica!" he yelled. She came in with an amused look on her face.

"How does Chandler know about the..." He gestured with his arms, the motion of someone holding a cup.

"About what?" she asked, trying not to smile.

"Tell him about me, you-you know about..." he repeated his game of charades.

"Aw, is little Miss Dee embarrassed?" mocked Chandler, patting his head. Ross glared at him for a moment, his expression changing differently in a matter of, uh, second. "Why-Why would I be embarrassed?" he asked innocently.

"Let me see-" began Chandler.

"Ok I was five!" Ross shrieked defensively.

Monica rolled her eyes. "Six, you were six. Anyway why would it matter Ross? Not like you'd be less cool than you already are dinosaur lover."

"Yeah well dinosaurs are much cooler than your obsession over that stupid frog!" he snapped, immediately getting into defensive mode, Thinking that if Kermit was laying there on the couch he would surely take his anger out on it by ripping its head off.

"He's not stupid! Your stupid!-"

Chandler spread his arms out wide in front of them.

"Whoa. Whoa, Guest in the house!" He exclaimed, "Enough with the argument children!"

Ross's tomato-coloured face gradually returned to its normal colour.

They all sat.

One minute passed.

Another 30 seconds.

"I heard about the party, I'm going." Monica stated, breaking the silence with her announcement.

"Um no I don't think so, are you in college? No I didn't think so." Ross stated back.

Monica rolled her eyes. _Ignorance_.

"I'll be in college in less than two months. Bedsides your so called friend invited me when I met him last week."

"I'll bring Rachel with me." she added with a smirk.

_Rachel._ Ross sighed. The girl he fell in love with since grade nine. The _One_, the One who only thought of him as Monica's geeky older brother. But he had to get rid of his feelings, put it aside. What with his current relationship with Carol, he was happy with her, but at times he wondered if he would be happier with Rachel.

"Fine... But you have to get mom and dad's approval first before I let you in my van."

"No problem."

End of Discussion. Except...

"It's in three days. We have to rent rooms in Starbuck Hotel, near the beach, cause it's a two-night party."

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For the next two days it was hectic.

Monica, as Chandler got to know her, was a neurotic, over-anxious, obsessed neat-freak. Who simply had to have everything tidy and organized. And so her packing was so the opposite of hectic.

Chandler had helped Ross pack and in no time, finished. Monica, however, abruptly stopped Chandler from helping her; it was like running into a brick wall. _No, No, NO! You're doing it all wrong! She had shrieked. Smack!_ The Brick Wall.

Thinking it was his cue, he left. Leaving her to fuss about the littlest things wrong. She had to do everything right, it was her compulsive must-be-organized trait (which is very rare amongst 'normal people') it included writing a rather large list of 'Things to take' as well as placing the heaviest objects at the bottom of the luggage and folding her clothes neatly on top. This of course was not his specialty.

As Ross drove Chandler back to their college dorm so he could pack, Monica called Rachel to tell her about the party.

"Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh no way!" Typical.

"Rachel are you always this excited about parties?" She knew the answer to that but it was rhetorical. Monica had already known how Rachel would react once she told her the news. The fact that it was word for word, however, slightly stunned her.

"Aren't you? We're invited to a _college_ party!" Rachel repeated for the billionth time, emphasizing college, as if Monica simply misunderstood.

"I know, I know!" she sighed, barely audible this time, "It's tomorrow, you know the beach outside the city? That's where it is. You need to get money to pay for a room at the hotel."

"Hey I'm not at all worried about the money" the spoiled rich teen explained, "But what about the college boys? We're both single. What if we meet cute guys and start dating? Oh my gosh! We would be the most popular in high school for sure!"

High school? Didn't they already leave it behind? Weren't they starting college? Yep.

As if those last words spoken by Rachel Karen Green were insignificant Monica was elsewhere.

"I wonder... if they'll let me cook there. I could show them my amazing Mac and cheese!" she exclaimed! She even got the author (me) excited!

"Monica, it's a beach party not a Cookhouse!" Rachel laughed.

"Alright. Alright. I'll see you there."

"Can't wait! Bye."

"Hold on-"

"What?"

"Is your dad driving you there?"

"Oh. I haven't thought of that! He's going to be working all day!"

"Ok then, just come over when you're done packing, my brother's got a van. There's room for one more." she smiled.

"Great! Thanks! I'll see you soon!"

"Bye."

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"Are we all set?" Ross asked as he closed the trunk of his van. Everyone nodded and piled into the van.

Ross turned on the radio as he began driving.

"Why don't you turn on the fan?" Chandler asked. The heat was apparent. Sweat gleamed and glided and poured down their faces, like their foreheads produced rain or something. That was foreseeable because the vehicle was stuffy and the metal didn't help either. Their ride was not going to comfortable; at least they had a fan.

Almost everyone seemed engaged in something. Monica was listening to music with her CD player, while sticking her head out the window to get some air. Rachel seemed to have buried her head in a magazine. _Top 100 sexiest celebrities alive._ Go Figure.

Ross was drumming on the stirring wheel in response to the radio, while driving. And Chandler. Well, he couldn't ask for anything more boring. He opened the glove compartment. All kinds of this popped out at him. Quickly scanning a newspaper he found inside, there imprinted on the back was a crossword puzzle. Smiling because he finally had something to do, he grabbed a pencil and began filling in the blanks.

All of them were so engaged with what they were doing, they did not stop to look at the beauty in front of them, to their left.

Up ahead, the soft sand, the seawater, the smell of saltwater in the air, the crashing sound of waves against enormous rocks, and the sound of seagulls.

They drove passed a sign to their right.

_Up Ahead_

_New York Beach_

I don't live in America, so I don't know squat about New York, nor the beaches and hotels. So I made the names up. This chapter is extremely long! So please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Do I own them? Nope.

**New York Beach**

The Sun blazed brightly on July 15, 1988, lighting up the whole city. This particular day was the most beautiful it had been all summer.

An 80's blue Chevrolet van cut the horizon as it rolled along the open area, dividing the blue sky from land. New York Beach was less than a mile away, setting in all kinds of feelings of excitement and anxiety. The density of anticipation filled the van and meddled with the air as they got closer, revealing a larger view of the beach. The refreshing breeze they received that morning had died down and all that was left was the warmth of the sun. It was hot enough to bake your skin and there was no cloud visible up in the sky. The degree of excitement was so high that three heads poked out of the moving van, keen to see the beach. Soon the hotel came into view; it didn't seem like a 5-star hotel but that didn't shut the excitement down.

Suddenly the wind picked up again and at that moment the hat Monica was wearing soared off into the wind before she could even grasp it. Completely bummed out, Rachel promised she would get her another one, Monica just mumbled something incoherent.

Standing adjacent to a red convertible was a tall, black-haired rough looking guy, smoking a cigarette. The guy took one long drag before flicking the cigarette and stepping on it, approaching a vehicle.

"Ross! Chan-my-man! You made it!' the guy told them, "And you brought visitors." he added after Rachel and Monica jumped out. The guy, Tom, pulled out another cigarette from his pack and lit it before starting.

"The party doesn't officially start until evening, when everyone gets drunk, Dan brought tons of beer," This to which Ross gave a nervous chuckle. "And get this," he continued, "I hear someone's been hiding liquor all over the place, the hotel won't allow it, especially if your under age, keep whatever you find." Chandler laughed at the irony of it.

"I'll let you guys get settled in." Tom told them. And with a wave, he was gone.

After grabbing their things and locking the van they headed towards the hotel, an exciting, yet unpredictable, day ahead of them.

The heavy breeze ruffled his sandy hair. It seemed like every day that went by, it grew more. He walked along the shoreline, hands in pocket and feet shuffling a little through the white sand, he barely acknowledged Kip walking with him, chattering away like a monkey. The change in the temperature, ever since they arrived, seemed fickle. One minute it was as hot as the Sahara Desert the next-winder. It was irregular yet no one paid too much attention to the matter. He decided to head back to his and Ross's room and, excusing himself from Kip, he headed for Room 43.

Room 43 was empty and he wondered if they were in Monica and Rachel's Room. He entered Room 44, and sure enough, they were all there playing cards. Chandler turned on the TV, It turned out the only free channel was the _New York Minute Watch_. Suddenly a red strip flashed at the bottom and a message read: WARNING just as the weather lady appeared holding a document. Ross, Rachel, and Monica looked up as she started to speak.

_'Good evening New Yorkers, I'm Jessica Wa__lker, bringing you up to date news in New York__.' _She began. _'We have reasons to believe that an unsuspected hurricane will hit New York tonight. Weather Experts have tracked down where and when it will hit. __But we need everyone to stay calm because we are not 100 sur__e__. For your safety, we advise e__veryone to stay indoors and save electricity__. Wind directions__ have been raising speculations; the last hurricane to hit the coastline was Hurricane Gloria just three years previous. Although there are a lot of doubts we advise to take necessary precaution, and stay safe. And now for today's news__... Flights have been cancelled due to weather warnings, tourists are directed to-__'_

The pounding noise outside, against the window, muted the volume. The rain had come without warning and pounded against the window, coming hard and fast. Everyone went to go look out the window. Few people who were enjoying the sun were now scrambling to get away from the rain; it became windy, as the sight of newspaper, pop cans, and other littered objects were flying everywhere. The rain, it seemed, set a gloomily mood on everyone. Not only did it bore them but the beach party they were going to have didn't happen, and now they were stuck with nothing to do. Soon enough everyone was getting on everyone's nerve.

"Did it stop raining yet?" Rachel asked for the third time.

"Does it sound like it?" Chandler snapped irritably.

"You know what, just because it's raining doesn't mean we should just sit around like a bunch of slugs." And with that Monica left. There wasn't much enthusiasm or interest to follow her.

The force of wind picked up, making a huge howling noise, the rain did not subside and a draft came in through the window. After huddling in blankets, soon Ross, Rachel, and Chandler fell asleep, the darkness engulfing them.

...11:00 pm...

A deafening crash erupted somewhere below. Chandler jumped immediately, he wasn't much of a deep sleeper and the noise was loud enough to wake the dead. He sprung up and was fully alert just as Ross and Rachel stirred.

All of a sudden, everything went Black.

Making a grab for a flashlight, Chandler went into the hall; he had to find out what was going on.

His flashlight swung madly around in front of him, providing light a couple of metres ahead. He got to the stairs when he's flashlight went off. _Shi_t! He silently cursed. Just as he got into the hall below he collided with a solid form and they fell. A strong hand reached over and pulled Chandler up. The silhouette figure muttered sorry, his voice low and no doubt a male.

"Hold on one sec" the guy told him, tapping something and soon enough a beam of light hit Chandler's face.

"Hey! Don't point it directly at me!"

"Sorry. Where are you heading in the dark anyway?"

"I'm looking for someone. Have you seen her? She's dark-haired and petite."

"Yeah baby!" He gave Chandler a lopsided grin.

"Excuse me? I'm looking for my friend, she's missing somewhere in the dark, what's going on around here?"

"I've heard on the news about a hurricane- yeah...right! Anyway, the powers short but it'll be fixed in no time. I'm an electrician." He stated proudly.

"And I'm Chandler, nice to meet you."

"Joey." They exchanged brief handshakes before turning around and heading towards the lobby.

"Everyone's too scared to come out of their rooms." Joey told him, shaking his head.

"Except Monica, she left a while ago, and have you heard that noise?"

"Yeah it was pretty loud-"

They stopped dead in their tracks.

One of the trees that were planted in the lobby for décor purposes had now fallen and landed on the main doors, both entrance doors were hanging loosely open and glass was littered everywhere. The waves outside roared. And with every crash the waves grew larger and larger, almost reaching the hotel. The wind was so strong it hit them full force.

"J-Joe- Joey we should probably... get to safety." Chandler said, backing away.

"Joey!" He hissed tucking at his sleeve. They both ran back upstairs, where they bumped into Ross and Rachel. Quick intros and handshakes were made.

"I need to get back down to the basement. I'm an electrician you know. It's my job to restore the lights." Joey said.

"I don't know man; you really wanna take that risk?" Chandler asked, sounding panicked.

"I know a safer root to get there." Joey reassured him.

After he left, Chandler turned to Ross and Rachel.

"Guys, Monica's gone. We gotta find her. It's not exactly pleasant outside." With their flashlights they went roaming around the hotel in search for her. People started coming out of their rooms, realising how bad it was getting. The shatter of glass was heard in all directions.

Amongst all the uproar, the wind and water constantly slammed against the building.

Panic filled the air. Outside was dark as well.

The weather was getting worse.

And Monica was nowhere to be seen.

Somehow a relaxing beach vacation turned into a bitter one.

_Storage Room_, a door was labelled. But it was locked. So much misfortune in one night frustrated Chandler. Ross and Rachel took the lower part of the hotel, while Chandler- the upper. Suddenly a guy in uniform bellied for everyone to get out of the building.

It was the hotel manager.

He ran past Chandler yelling and pounding his fists at every door. "WE NEED TO EVACUTE THE BUILDING, QUICKLY AND CALMLY."

People left and right filled the hallways and started shoving and scrambling their way to the exit.

When Chandler got back into the lobby, the scene had gotten worse. He decided to run out and see how bad it had gotten.

Outside the waves bellied and erupted, and as soon as he got out the wave crashed into him, making him stumble.

A pang of uneasiness settled in. The reality of it finally hit, this could not have been his mind- playing tricks on him.

Bravely, He rushed forward, not aware of his surroundings, not aware of the waves, not aware of a stinging sensation that shot up through his foot.

He was not aware of a warm liquid feeling.

All he had was the adrenaline coursing through his body and his clammy feet that lurched forward.

His mind buzzing and his eyes never peeling off nor blinking from the small dark figure, it was a matter of time; the outline would stop fighting for air, stop struggling to stay at the surface.

A scream overfilled the noise.

Tick, Tick, Tick, a matter of time, if only it could be stopped.

...11:50 pm...

The rain- seemingly showered him, pounding him down.

The rain- droplets the size of ping-pong balls beat down, harshly, at his silhouette, he fought against the waves, against the rain that made his vision blur.

But he wobbled forward and reached the dying figure, somehow more hunched and tall.

Chandler suddenly became dizzy and with his weakened state, let go of Monica, who tried to cling on to him. He felt his world darken, nothing but a blur, feeling he had lost the last shred of hope, he collapsed.

….11: 59 pm……………..

𐅒


	6. Chapter 6

AN: I had major writers' block! What have I gotten myself into? Thinking that writing a fan fiction would be easy? It would be amazing just to finish this story, even if I believe it's crappy.

Just to clarify things, the story will be a mix of the Narrator's POV as well as the characters.

OK on with the story. Here's chapter 6, don't really have a title for this, just different parts.

**Part 1: Half-Moon**

An Alternate Reality, that's not something you hear every day. Sure, if you suffered from Depersonalization, when you don't feel right in your own skin, like a bystander watching your life past by. Or a Personality Disorder, where you create different people within yourself, bringing multiple personalities into existence. But in this case, it's different.

You don't wake up feeling numb, uncomfortable, or different. This time you wake up with- _pain._

The drowning figure, the storm, and that scream, was still fresh in his mind. What's going on? That smell- where is it coming from? _Wake Up Chandler! Wake Up now! Ugh! Great…_

Chandler let out a sigh, his refusal to open his eyes, and talking to his mind made him feel- He felt his right leg twitch.

_Chandler, Chandler, Chandler…_ He heard an unfamiliar voice, more of an echo, repeating his name.

It reached his ears and sent a chill down his spine. _OK Chandler,_ he told himself, _just open one eye at a time, haphazard a peek?_ But where was he? In a Hospital? _No, it's too dark._ Maybe it's night-time? _Yeah or maybe I've gone into the light._

The repeated echo again. The voice was so unfamiliar, so unreal. He felt a slight gust of wind pass his sweaty forehead. His eyelids flickered open, revealing his cerulean eyes, picking up- green? _Green?!_

Chandler hosted himself up on his elbows and looked around. Hedges, in all directions, about 10 feet high, seemed to surround him. He was now in panic mode, but the stinging in his right leg prevented him from doing anything. Ugh! He felt slightly dizzy and nauseous. Maybe he could puke in the bushes, add a little decoration. The fear that shadowed his mind, worsened as a rustle of leaves was heard to his left. Quickly glancing there, he prayed to the heavens that nothing in there dared to harm him.

"Chandler? Chandler." He heard it like a frantic whisper. Instead of being spooked about it, it calmed him; the voice was gentle, peaceful, yet almost hysterical, and it sounded familiar.

He tried to get up as best as he could, and holding his right leg with his arm, he followed the voice without trying to aggravate his bad leg. The path led him right; there was a left turning, a north, and a west.

But when he turned the corner, he gasped. He didn't think he could take any more surprises for one night. But there she was. Just the way she was last time he saw her. And, in this moment of time, he wished that she wasn't here, with him. The place almost seemed like someone's backyard, or a giant's backyard, if the hedges weren't so large. And he still couldn't figure out where he was. _Maybe this is all a dream,_ he thought.

"Chandler, where are we?" Monica whispered shakily, "How did we end up here."

He couldn't answer. "I just wake up to this before I saw you."

Sighing, she let her eyes wander, "I want to go home. If this is some sort of trick, or, or-"

"Monica, shh," Chandler put his finger to his lips to silence her as the rustling of leaves was heard yet again. "Some one's following us," he stated. Actually he didn't know if it was a 'someone' or a 'something,' but he didn't want to scare her even more. Shivering, she hugged herself, denying her weak legs from sitting down.

"Come on there's no time to play Guess the scenery." Grabbing her hand, they headed forward, away from the thing lurking in the hedges. Their pace was slow, they turned right, desperately wanted to get out, he tried to walk faster but that caused him more pain shooting up his leg.

"What happened to your leg?" Monica asked when she noticed.

"Dunno really, I think I fell on it."

He could tell by her expression that she was frustrated from their lack of knowledge, squeezing her hand tighter; he led the way forward, feeling just as nerved.

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"They just vanished!" Ross was answering questions to the police as news reporters poured into the scene, keen on gripping information. It happened ten minutes ago.

_Ten minutes before-_ 12:00am...

A loud scream emitted throughout the beach. Rachel looked ahead and saw Ross go ballistic. She couldn't blame him for behaving that way, after all his sister was the one in the water.

She wondered how Chandler had gotten that far. It seemed almost impossible to walk against the wind.

Battling through the wind and rain, she reached Ross, just in time to stop him from going any further.

Suddenly, and Rachel not expecting it, Ross turned and sobbed. She hugged him and tried to comfort him, as her own tears broke out. She heard him whispering his sisters' name, over and over, as if she would magically appear before them.

**Rachel's POV:**

Oh God. Oh God. My best friend- Gone. I never thought such a word could cause so much pain.

No, she's not gone, must keep faith. Where the hell are they? What kind of rescue team comes late to rescue someone, what if it is too late? Stay Optimistic. But how? How can I do that?

Must stop being selfish. I may lose a best friend but Ross may lose his sister.

Not Being Selfish.

**Narrative's POV:**

"I've had it, I'm supposed to be a man, not cry and do nothing about it!" Ross wiped his eyes with the hem of his shirt harshly and turned to go back in.

"Honey there's nothing we can do!"

But before she could stop him, they heard footsteps approaching quickly.

Three men came running towards them.

"Miss …?"

"Green."

"Miss Green, I need you to tell me what happened, don't leave out any details."

Rachel looked at the men; they all had blue jackets on.

She took a shaky breath, eyeing the guy.

"Don't worry ma'am we're the rescue team, we're not imposers or anything." He gave her a toothy grin that seemed contagious and encouraged her to start.

"My- my best friend. Monica Geller was out there," she pointed towards the water, "Ross and I came running out after Chandler, Ross's best friend, and we saw him go in after her. They both disappeared after that, before Ross could even reach them."

Not being able to hold in her emotions anymore, the tears leaked out from her eyelids. Ross held her as she cried. The guy gestured for the two men to go ahead.

And, without hesitation, they started running towards the water. It almost seemed hopeless to go search for them, as it felt like hours when Rachel last saw Monica.

Ross hugged her tighter and watched as the men with their blue jackets, and bright yellow, bold lettered prints "NY Search n Rescue Team," take a dive. The colours faded, and all that was left was the black sky. Behind him he heard sirens. The Cops. The Sky brightened, but it wasn't from the sun.

Ross looked up. The Moon had seeped out from the dark clouds. It emitted a white glow that shone throughout the beach and the wreckage. The reporters left, Footsteps.

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"This is all just a dream, yeah that's it." He could tell that she wanted to assure herself, because he wanted to too.

"Then whose dream is it?"

He didn't want to ask her but common sense was better than just being irrational.

"It just seems real to me, not like in a dream," he whispered after Monica gave him the 'You're not helping' look.

"Well this is my dream then, because it sure as hell not real to me." She pouted, exasperated, and wanting to get back home.

"We've been roaming around for like hours and all I see are hedges and turnings everywhere I look, it's like we're in a-"

"Maze," He finished for her. She nodded, sulking wasn't going to help matters but that was all she had as they continued walking and picking which way to turn.

After a minute Monica felt she had to say something, or do something, "There's got to be a way out of here, if it is reality." Chandler nodded, suddenly noticing his hand intertwined with hers. Feeling embarrassed, he slipped it out of her hand and shoved it in his pocket. Monica, who was concentrating on finding a way out, noticed herself go cold. There was a chilling breeze that seemed to make their skins go cold, the warmth they shared suddenly broke. It felt like winter, which seemed odd in the middle of summer, and she wished Chandler hadn't let go.

Dark blue sky turned to black as Monica felt her eyelids close over her eyes. Feeling weak, she finally gave in and let her legs rest.

"Monica, No, we need to keep walking, who knows how long we'll be in this."

"But, I'm so tired, hadn't…Slept…for…..hours," her last words were whispered as she felt herself fall asleep. Chandler however, refused to stop there, they're encounter with the 'thing' hiding in the hedges didn't give him an enough sense of security. So he tried to sway her before she was fully wiped out with exhaustion.

"It's not safe Monica, you know that, don't let sleep get to you, we need to find someplace safe so the," pause, "…person doesn't follow us, Come on, you can do it."

She opened her eyes and mumbled something; Chandler took her hand and helped her up.

"I hope your right." She whispered, yawning and leaning on Chandler for support. After a while, fatigue stole Chandler's energy, and he too felt the need to sleep. His right leg hadn't pained him for a while, which made walking easier.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they came across an opening. What surprised them was the large tree that stood firm in the middle. Monica took a step forward when she felt Chandler stop her. "Don't." He whispered. Rolling her eyes slightly, she walked over to the tree and sat against it.

"Chandler, don't be so sceptical, we're tired, hungry, and cold, we might as well get some sleep."

Taking a look around nervously, he decided to accept the offer.

"OK fine, we'll sleep, just until the sun comes up, Hold on." Walking over to the hedges, he dug his hands into the leaves and pulled out some twigs. After grabbing as much he could hold, he scattered them around the large tree.

"What are you doing?" she asked, as he passed her and scattered more around.

"It's um, a trap, in case anything here decides to come near us while we're sleeping, then if it does we'll hear the twigs snap, see" he pointed at them, "I'm thinking ahead, it's safer this way."

After rubbing his hands together he walked over and sat beside her. Immediately he felt himself fall asleep, opening his eyes when he felt Monica shiver. Monica was half-asleep when she felt a jacket being wrapped around her. She could only offer a weak smile in his direction. The bitter cold helped little in getting their sleep, she put her head on his shoulder and dosed off. He gently wrapped his arm around her and put his head atop hers so that they can stay warm. Looking up he saw white light illuminating from the sky, giving the tree its shadow. Taking his finale yawn he soon dosed off, matching his breathing patterns with hers.

The only source of light upon their darkened world was up in the sky, a glimmer of hope that smiled down on them while they slept.

Half Moon.


End file.
